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MINNESOTA NEWS ROUNDUP: Missing autistic boy found in Red River

EAST GRAND FORKS -- The worst fears of family and investigators searching for a missing child have been realized. The body of a missing 11-year-old boy with autism was found nearly 24 hours after he disappeared, in the Red River in Grand Forks. Polk County Sheriff's officials focused the search for Anthony Kuznia on the area along the river, saying that they were concerned that the boy may be drawn toward the water. A vigil was held last (Thu) night at United Lutheran Church in Grand Forks.

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A 29-year-old Colorado man died in a cliff diving accident in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The Lake County Sheriff's Office says Chase Winkey of Denver jumped from a cliff into Makwa Lake Wednesday night and never resurfaced. Searchers found his body yesterday (Thu) in about 20 feet of water near the cliff. Winkey's body was sent to the medical examiner in Hibbing for an autopsy.

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The FBI is helping look into a possible kidnapping in Duluth, but police say nobody has been reported missing and there is no other evidence of an abduction -- despite a report by a teenage girl that her friend was dragged into an S-U-V by a strange man. Duluth Police officials say 20 officers have been looking into the possible abduction of a 14-year-old Native American girl named Jessica Martin or Jessica Martineau, but say there are no records that anyone by that name lives or attends school in the area, and there are no missing persons anywhere in the U.S. with that name or that fit the girl's description Still, police say they will continue to investigate until they either find the victim or determine conclusively that no crime has occured.

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A driver was trapped under her car for hours on I-94 before being rescued yesterday (Thu) morning. Minnesota State Patrol got a call to check out a crash near Fergus Falls, and found 34-year-old Heather Obrzut of Princeton outside the car, after she was ejected, and partially under the vehicle. Troopers believe her car ran off the road the night before, about eight hours before Obrzut was discovered. She was hospitalized; there is no word on her current condition.

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Charges will not be filed against a nurse who gave two overdoses of morphine that killed an assisted-living resident in Bloomington. County Attorney Mike Freeman says there is not enough evidence to prove that the nurse intentionally administered 20 times the usual dose of the drug to 98-year-old Stella Pfeifer, or that the Nervana’s Caring Hands employee was negligent. Freeman says it would be impossible to prove it was not a mistake. He also says there is no indication that the overdose was meant to be an assisted suicide. Bloomington Police have said the 39-year-old nurse did not cooperate in the investigation, and there have been *no* prior complaints against her made to the nursing board.

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Reducing carbon footprints is big in the corporate world these days, but more companies need to help their suppliers reduce carbon emissions. That from Jennifer Schmitt of the University-of-Minnesota's Institute on the Environment. She says right now leading companies are pushing their supply chains to make improvements but often it's the suppliers that are incurring costs, and the companies are not helping out those suppliers in any way. Schmitt says getting energy reductions along the supply chain can save corporations money and do something important for the environment. The institute works with large Minnesota companies and others across the country to help them reduce their carbon footprint.

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Whole grains are often touted as a way Minnesotans can reduce their risk of chronic illnesses that include obesity, heart disease, and Type Two Diabetes, but a nutrition researcher says those benefits have not yet been scientifically proven. Dr. David Klurfeld says in 45 years of research there have been no controlled studies long term looking at the impact whole grains have in combating those illnesses. He says in each study researchers were using different definitions of whole grains. He says it seems balancing whole grains and other sources of fiber is the best path toward a healthy diet.

Jason Schulte is a reporter for the New Richmond News since February 2015. Prior to that he spent eight years at the Pierce County Herald in Ellsworth. His duties with the News will include covering news out of Hammond and Roberts along with action from St. Croix County court system. He lives in Roberts.